3 Questions to Ask Yourself When You’re Building Your Annual Fundraising Plan
For many of us fundraisers, we’re not far off that magical time of the year: planning season. The time of year when we evaluate this year’s progress and learnings, decide what to stop, start, and continue next year, and develop our all-important budgets and projections. If annual planning isn’t your jam – or you don’t […]
Find the time to say thank you: 5 tips to completing new donor thank you calls
It’s no secret that new donors are worth their weight in gold – sometimes literally (Yes, acquisition campaigns are expensive!). Acquiring a new donor and getting them to that all-important second gift is pivotal to the success of any annual giving program, but how do you continue to engage this new donor– especially when their […]
Don’t Go Breaking My (Direct Mail Loving) Heart
How to Write Direct Mail for Donors Who Don’t Read Direct Mail 💌 Here at Good Works, we’re passionate about sharing emotional stories with your donors. But we also know a little secret about direct mail donors… Lots of them decide to give without even reading the letter! (If you love writing stories for donors […]
How Aging Changes The Way We Read Mail
Just last week, I read this tweet showed up in my newsfeed. Now admittedly, this is pretty old, but it did offer up a Groundhog Day moment for me. I was both transfixed and blown away by this image: Astigmatism is when the cornea is slightly curved rather than completely round.. With astigmatism, light focuses […]
Your Story Is Worth Its Weight In Gold!
Fundraisers always ponder questions about offers. How much should I ask for? What would a donor pay for this? Or for that? There are well-paid consultants who make a living by helping charities put a valuation on sponsorship opportunities and naming rights. But, have you ever thought about how the right story could a real […]
Trust Your Gut: Five Times The Fundraiser Is Always Right
If you’re a fundraiser, you’ve likely encountered someone within your organization (or at a dinner party!) who thinks of fundraising not as a profession, but rather, a fun job that any friendly person can do. I mean, what’s so hard about asking people for money…right? What these well-meaning people don’t know is that good fundraisers […]
The Hectic Fall Season – Pandemic Style
For those of you that are savvy veterans of the direct mail fundraising game, you know that we are heading into the busiest and most important time of year, pandemic or not. For the vast majority of direct mail fundraisers, the September to December stretch is the biggest in terms of revenue coming in and […]
December 31 is 133 Days Away: How To Plan Your Year-End Direct Mail Campaign
It’s August. For some, that means sweltering days spent in the pool, in the lake, or in the air conditioning. But for fundraisers like us, it means it’s time to start planning our year-end appeals! Year-end, or ‘holiday’, appeals are often the most successful direct mail campaigns of the year for charities, big and small. […]
The Legacy Lift – Your Secret to Increasing Annual Revenues
Over the years, I’ve heard dozens of reasons why fundraisers don’t think that now is the right time to invest in their legacy giving program. Legacy & Planned Giving Inertia Often, the reason for not ramping up legacy gift fundraising is the fear that annual donors will stop giving once they’ve made their bequests. This […]
The 6 Ingredients You Need To Build A Digital Fundraising Program
Building a digital program is kind of like baking a macaron: you need the right ingredients, combined in the right way, or it’s just not going to work! No smooth round top, no bubbly little feet, no crispy outside and chewy inside. Sure, it might still be tasty – but it won’t be as good […]